Only 110 watts coming in?!

I built a really cool ground mount system for my (4) 100 watt renogy panels to recharge my Bluetti AC300. I’ve got 2 panels in series plugged into the dc1 and 2 panels in series plugged into the dc2 connections that came with the Bluetti. I’m using Renogy extension cables in 10awg. The panels are angled for optimal solar exposure and it’s a clear blue sky, but I’m only pulling in 183 watts. Is that right? Is that what I should be getting?
Also, do I need to bury the cables in conduit or underground?
Thanks in advance for any assistance!

What's optimal? What's your location? What time of day? What battery SOC?

pollenface said:

What's optimal? What's your location? What time of day? What battery SOC?

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It was mid day, tilt was checked with one of those solar checkers, to see if the angle of the solar panels was good. I’m in se Idaho. Battery SOC? Idk what that means. The panels are plugged into a Bluetti ac 300

SOC = State of Charge = % Charged

#40Fan said:

SOC = State of Charge = % Charged

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Thank you for the explanation
I’m still new and learning the acronyms

The reason SOC was asked is because charge controllers will "dial back" the amount of power going to the battery as it gets close to full. If your Bluetti is close to fully charged its charge controller will switch to what's known as "float charge". When the batteries get low it switches to "bulk charge" at which point you should see higher numbers coming in.

Markw said:

The reason SOC was asked is because charge controllers will "dial back" the amount of power going to the battery as it gets close to full. If your Bluetti is close to fully charged its charge controller will switch to what's known as "float charge". When the batteries get low it switches to "bulk charge" at which point you should see higher numbers coming in.

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Thank you for the explanation Markw. The Bluetti was only at 28%. I did start to get more watts in after it warmed up a bit. Maybe the cables/connections were too cold? I believe the temperature was in the 20s. Clear blue sky’s, but definitely cold.

Notdead11 said:

Thank you for the explanation Markw. The Bluetti was only at 28%. I did start to get more watts in after it warmed up a bit. Maybe the cables/connections were too cold? I believe the temperature was in the 20s. Clear blue sky’s, but definitely cold.

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Hmm...Solar panels typically work better when it's cold, actually. Perhaps double check your connections?

Also, keep in mind that "clear blue sky and sun" doesn't mean the same at, say, 7 am as it does at, say 2pm. It depends on where the sun is, how the panels are angled etc.

I did see you angled them using an angle tool, but again, clear sun at 7 am isn't going to be as strong as clear sun at 2pm regardless of how the panels are angled. While panels do use sunlight to produce power, it isn't so much the light itself as it is certain components of sunlight. the short version is they use a combination of visible light, infrared and ultraviolet (though, from what I have been able to research it's a bit more complicated), which aren't all going to be the strongest at all times during the day. Basically you aren't going to get as much power throughput at 7am as you will at 2pm when the sun is shining more directly on the panels.

Did you set your AC300 to PV charging mode?
The input power is still mostly related to the intensity and angle of the sunlight. You can either run the cable through a tube or just leave it exposed, it shouldn't matter much.